Kitt Wakeley is a Grammy award-winning American composer, producer, orchestrator, arranger, and musician. He has worked with artists Aaron Lazar,

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, ...

, Sting,

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

, and others. His solo album, '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'' (featuring

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

), charted at #1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Classical Crossover and Classical charts as well as yielding two #1 singles. In 2023, he won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for "Best Classical Compendium" for ''

An Adoption Story ''An Adoption Story'' is a Grammy-winning classical compendium album by Kitt Wakeley (featuring Starr Parodi). The album reached No. 5 on the '' Billboard'' Classical Crossover Albums chart and features the London Symphony, Joe Satriani, and ...

'' and was nominated in the same category in 2024 for ''Mythologies II''. He produced Aaron Lazar's album '' Impossible Dream'' which was also nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" that same year as well as charting at #2 on

's Classical Crossover Album chart. In 2025, Wakeley was honored by the

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

Network with an Essey Spotlight Award for his production work on the album.

Early life and education

Wakeley was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

and grew up in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He played trumpet in his elementary school band and later began playing the drums, piano, and guitar. During high school Wakeley played in several bands and received scholarship offers from state level music programs but chose to pursue a bachelor's degree in Pre-Law and Sociology and a Masters in Public Administration from

East Central University East Central University (ECU or East Central) is a public university in Ada, Oklahoma. It is part of Oklahoma's Regional University System. Beyond its flagship campus in Ada, the university has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, and Duran ...

Ada, Oklahoma Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was in ...

, where he was in the Gamma Xi Chapter of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

in 1987.

Music career

Wakeley is a composer, songwriter, musician, and music producer whose genres have been classified as rock, hard rock, EDM, and orchestral. His professional career began at age 16 when he was hired to write the intro for one of Oklahoma's top radio DJ's shows. He wrote, produced, and recorded songs for the rock band Mydion. They released one album, ''Ashes and the Angel''. His first rock and EDM solo album, ''Cinematic Chaos'', was released in 2013 under his pseudonym, AudioKaoz. His third orchestral rock collection, ''Midnight in Macedonia'' (recorded in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

), featuring the Macedonian Choir and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, was released in 2015. Wakeley released his fourth solo studio album, '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'' (featuring

), which was recorded at the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with the

Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

and London Voices. The album peaked at #1 on

s Classical Crossover and Classical charts, and at #18 on Hot Hard Rock Songs. Singles " Conflicted", "Forgive Me", and "Sinners and Saints" all peaked at #1 on Billboard as well as charting in the Top-10 Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. The album tour included shows at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma, and

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. Throughout his career, Wakeley has received numerous awards for his music. At the 2019 Indie Music Awards he won awards in eight categories, including, Best New Male Artist of the Year, Best Special Live Performance, Best Instrumental Producer, Artist of The Year, and Best Instrumental Songwriter. He won, Song of the Year at the

Hollywood Music in Media Awards The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special p ...

and two Josie Music Awards in 2020 for, Songwriter of the Year and Producer of the Year. In 2021 he was inducted into the Indie Music Hall of Fame, along with winning Album of the Year for ''Symphony of Sinners and Saints''. In 2023, Wakeley's album, ''An Adoption Story'', won a Grammy Award for "Best Classical Compendium". The album was recorded at

and features the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, and Wouter Kellerman. Wakeley was nominated for a Grammy Award for ''Mythologies II'' for "Best Classical Compendium" in 2024, as well as producing Aaron Lazar's album '' Impossible Dream'' which was nominated for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" that same year. He was honored by the

Network with an Essey Spotlight Award for his production work on ''Impossible Dream'' in 2025 and was included in

Spin magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps as ''SPIN'') is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. ...

's "10 Rising Artists to Watch".

Solo discography

*Mydion – ''Ashes and the Angel'' *AudioKaoz – ''Cinematic Chaos'' *''Midnight in Macedonia'' *''Symphony of Sinners and Saints'' *''Adoption Story''

Discography

Billboard charts

Awards

{, class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Nominated work !Category !Award !Result , - , 2025 , , '' Impossible Dream'' , , Production, ,

Essey Spotlight Award , , , - , 2024 , , ''Mythologies II'' , , Best Classical Compendium, ,

, , , - , 2024 , , ''Various Works'' , , Best Production/Producer, , Josie Music Awards, , , - , 2024 , , ''Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot'' , , Best Production/Producer, , Hollywood Independent Music Awards, , , - , 2024 , , ''Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot'' , , Best Music Production/Producer, , Josie Music Award, , , - , 2023 , , ''

'' , , Best Classical Compendium, ,

, , , - , 2023 , , ''Best in Music Genre'' , , Contemporary Classical, , Hollywood Independent Music Award, , , - , 2023 , , ''

'' , , EP of the Year (Male), , Josie Music Award, , , - , 2023 , , ''The Storm'' , , Best Instrumental Song, , Intercontinental Music Award, , , - , 2023 , , ''

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

'' , , Best Rock Song, , Intercontinental Music Award, , , - , 2022 , , ''Live and Recorded Sound'' , , Outstanding Musical Ensemble, , Josie Music Award, , , - , 2021 , , ''You Gave Me Wings'' , , Best Instrumental Song , , Hollywood Music in Media Award, , , - , 2021 , , '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'', , Album of the Year, , Josie Music Award, , , - , 2021 , , , , Indie Music Hall of Fame inductee, , Indie Music Hall of Fame, , , - , 2021 , , ''Forgive Me'' , , Instrumental Song of the Year, , Hollywood Music in Media Award, , , - , 2021 , , , , Outstanding Stage Production, , Josie Music Award , , , - , 2020 , , , , Musician of the Year, , Josie Music Award , , , - , 2020 , , ''You Gave Me Wings '', , Best Instrumental , , Hollywood Music in Media Award, , , - , 2019 , , ''End of my Journey'' , , Best Gospel Song, , Hollywood Music in Media Award, , , - , 2019 , , ''Midnight in Macedonia'' , , Album of the Year , , ISSA (Independent Singer-Songwriter Awards), , , - , 2019 , , ''Closure'', , Best Instrumental Producer, , Indie Music Channel Awards , , , - , 2018 , , ''Closure'', , Best Instrumental Producer , , Indie Music Channel Awards, , , - , 2019 , , ''An Evening in Gotham'' , , Best Instrumental Songwriter , , Indie Music Channel Awards , , , - , 2019 , , ''Closure'' , , Best Male Instrumental Artist , , Indie Music Channel Awards, ,

Personal life

Wakeley is married to Melissa Wakeley. They share four biological children together, and three adoptive children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakeley, Kitt Living people 1979 births Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee